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Official: Woman killed in DC chase was delusional

The Associated Press

STAMFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut woman who was shot to death outside the U.S. Capitol after trying to ram her car through a White House barrier had been under the delusion the president was communicating with her, a federal law enforcement official said Friday.

The woman’s mother said she was suffering from postpartum depression.

Miriam Carey’s killing at the hands of police Thursday was Washington’s second major spasm of deadly violence involving an apparently unstable person in 2½ weeks.

Interviews with some of those who knew the 34-year-old woman suggested she was coming apart well before she loaded her 1-year-old daughter into the car for the drive to Washington.

Carey had suffered a head injury in a fall and had been fired as a dental hygienist, according to her former employer.

The federal law enforcement official, who had been briefed about the investigation but was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said investigators were interviewing Carey’s family about her mental state and examining writings found in her condominium.